FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT NANDAN NILEKANI - PAGE 2

For Bangaloreans, Nandan Nilekani represents much more than Aadhaar or the Congress. He symbolises Bangalore's entrepreneurial spirit in and the world of technology where the country is now competing with the best in the world. The purpose of his siding with the Congress after an eventful career at Infosys was not to park himself to enjoy the spoils of a political post at the centre. Instead, he wanted to use his ideas to provide every Indian with a unique identity, the utility of which is manifold.

By: Nandan Nilekani As part of its 25th anniversary celebrations in the city, the Economic Times is pleased to present daily columns from some of the city's brightest minds on ways to improve Bangalore's appeal as a major global hub for business, innovation and entrepreneurship. We start with Nandan Nilekani, who talks about his ideas for creating a smart network for managing city services. In 1961, the then US president John F Kennedy had reminded his country of its unique position in the world.

Would you agree that Infosys is facing 'growth pangs'? Growth is not new to Infosys. For over a decade, we've been growing, much faster than others in the industry in terms of revenues, people, services and geographical footprint. We have proven that we're still a flexible organisation that can change to weather the toughest economic conditions. Our philosophy has always been to be a large company with the heart of a small company. While we focus on our business, we're totally committed to the welfare of all our stakeholders ?

NANDAN: I tried to see how we could structure this conversation and I thought there are, broadly, three areas we could talk about. One is about the business. The other about India and different aspects of India, your plans for India and so forth. And the third is more on the personal side. INDRA NOOYI: Yes, as long as we stay out of politics. NANDAN: Yes. You joined Pepsi in 1994 and at that time, it was soft drinks, restaurants and bottling; and it had assets, capital and so forth.

NANDAN NILEKANI: Your mother seems to be have been a huge influence on you, right from the days she prompted you to get 100% marks in Maths and all that... INDRA NOOYI: That is typical southern Brahmin stuff. So there is nothing unique about that. I think that she was genetically programmed for that. The entire family focused on grades. When parents got together they only compared the report cards of their kids. Anybody who got together would say, 'so how is your child doing', 'what rank'.

BANGALORE: The Board of Directors of Infosys Technologies Limited today approved changes at the senior level management, with Nandan M Nilekani becoming Co-Chairman of the Board, effective June 22. S Gopalakrishnan would assume the role of Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, and S D Shibulal the Chief Operating Officer of the NASDAQ-listed software major.

BENGALURU: Infosys co-founder and billionaire Nandan Nilekani , who spearheaded the country's massive unique identification project, is gearing up for an equally ambitious project - to help elementary school children across the country improve their reading and arithmetic skills using low-end tablets and smartphones. Nilekani is launching a social enterprise, Ek Step , and has roped in technologists and former colleagues at Unique Identification Authority of India, Pramod Varma and Vivek Raghavan , and data analytics firm Marketics cofounder Shankar Maruwada to be part of his team, people familiar with the development told ET. "Primary education remains an unsolved problem in the country and that is what Nandan (Nilekani)

At 57, Nandan Nilekani has a lot to his credit: a bluechip career, a billion-dollarplus net worth, a star-adviser tag... But no assignment has been bigger than the one he is currently handling, rolling out Aadhaar . The final assessment on him will be hugely influenced by the success, or failure, of this crucial scheme. ET list the challenges:

BANGALORE: The Unique Identification Authority of India ( UIDAI ) Chairman Nandan Nilekani today said he did not subscribe to politician-bashing by the middle class but expected them to work in unison with the political class to solve the problems facing the country. "I am not a fan of politician-bashing by the middle class...," he said in an interaction conducted by Omidyar Network here. The work of politicians is not a bed of roses as they work 24/7 solving problems of the people, Nilekani said.

BANGALORE: Infosys co-founder and face of the Aadhar programme Nandan Nilekani today met KPCC President G Parameshwara, amid rumours that he would contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. "Nandan Nilekani met me this morning and shared his views... I have conveyed to him whatever I should as KPCC President," Karnataka PCC Chief G Parameshwara said. After demitting office as CEO of Infosys in 2007, the billionaire former software czar had taken charge as head of the Unique Identification Authority of India, mandated to give a billion Indians an identity card, an ambitious programme touted as a showpiece of its achievements by the UPA. Nilekani has been maintaining silence on reports about his political plans, which has gained more currency after the KPCC reportedly shortlisted his name among the three probable candidates for Bangalore south recently.